Two fingers are enough for many tasks – a Boy Scout’s salute or a Peace Sign – but it may not be enough for tablet users. Unless you are Amazon looking for ways to undercut the iPad price by offering cheap touchscreen displays. The Internet retailer’s foray into tablets starts with a device limited to just two fingers — enough to give a one-fingered sign of displeasure.
Apparently, Amazon plans to enter the tablet market in September. Already, the Kindle maker is all-thumbs, as it were about the needs of tablet users versus smartphone owners. Two-finger touch screens “are sufficient for entry-level smartphones,” reports industry publication DigiTimes citing sources. Although WinTek also supplies touch screens for Apple, the Cupertino, Calif. iPad maker uses the 10-finger versions.
Although two fingers are great for basic tasks, such as shrinking windows and tapping buttons, for anything much beyond flinging colorful birds at obnoxious linkers, more fingers are required. A decent tablet painting program, or Apple’s own iPad version of GarageBand, both require more than two fingers.
We’ve reported how it is extremely difficult for rivals to match the iPad’s features, offering only pricing as a way to compete. But limiting the touch of a touchpad? Before the KindlePad even gets out of the gate, consumers are likely to give thumbs-down on this two-fingered iPad alternative.
